This is quite early. But as we normally do not celebrate non-biblical saints,
and do not have official collects or hymns stanzas for this (that I know of),
so I send this early as I started early in my preparations. This is all still
in draft form but I send it if it may be helpful to you.
Readings
OT: Numbers 25:1-2, 6-8a, 10-11a
Epistle: Hebrews 13:5-7
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-4
Stanza 2 of “By All Your Saints in Warfare”
For Nicholas we praise you,
A Shepherd of Your fold,
Who gave up earthly treasures
And prayed with zeal so bold.
He helped raise up the lowly,
But falsehoods bravely scorned;
Through faith and life and preaching,
Christ’s Gospel he adorned.
Collect for St. Nicholas
Heavenly Father, Shepherd of your people, we thank you for your servant
Nicholas of Myra, who was faithful in the care and nurture of your flock. May
the remembrance of Nicholas prompt us to give without thought of our own gain
and promote in us a zeal for the truth, even the Truth, Jesus Christ our
Savior, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen.
Sermon
Intro
This year, the Feast of St. Nicholas falls on the 2nd Sunday in Advent, today,
December 6th. Not wanting the world’s images of Santa Claus to destroy what we
know of this Christian, who lived so long ago, today we remember St. Nicholas.
When we remember Nicholas, we simply do what Scripture says. Hebrews 13:7
tells us: “Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s Word to you.” These
leaders aren’t just me, your current pastor, but the faithful pastors of all
time. And then Hebrews continues, “Consider the outcome of their way of life,
and imitate their faith.” When we remember Nicholas, we simply do what our
Lutheran Confessions say: “The saints are to be remembered so that we may
strengthen our faith when we see how they experienced grace and how they were
helped by faith” (AC XXI, 1).
Main Body
Nicholas was born in about 280 AD and lived along the seacoast of what is now
Turkey. And it was there, in Asia Minor, where St. Nicholas became a monk,
while still a young man. But later, he wanted to serve, not only by praying
for others as a monk, but as a shepherd of a flock, as a pastor. And so he
later the Church installed him as the bishop of Myra.
But for us today, even those of us in the Church, we know St. Nicholas more as
the commercialized Santa Claus. Yet, if we look at pictures of Santa Claus, we
can see the vestiges of the true St. Nicholas hiding in the background. We see
him dressed in beautiful red clothes, which are his bishop, or pastoral,
vestments. He wears a wide, black belt, which shows that Nicholas was a monk.
For the black belt was the leather-monastic belt that Christian monks wore in
Asia Minor.
Nicholas had a big beard, like clergy do in some traditions. This was to help
hide himself through his beard, to show all the more that he represented
Christ. And then there is the big sack. This sack represents Nicholas’
generosity, for he was a generous man. When we see St. Nicholas like this, we
remember well who he was.
St. Nicholas became well-known known among Christians because he lived out the
faith in two inspiring ways. As a bishop, Nicholas suffered in prison during
the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian, and showed zeal throughout his life for
living out the faith. But also being a generous person, Nicholas gave away
much to help others. These two traits are part of every Christian’s life, or
are supposed to be--a great zeal for the truth and charity toward others.
Nicholas embodied loving the truth of God. He displayed this love by being
willing--and even suffering for--his confession and teaching of the Christian
faith. This was when pagan Emperors ruled the Roman Empire. But Nicholas
would not be deterred. Even while in prison, he preached and taught the truth,
considering the words of the Apostle Paul: “Live in a manner worthy of the
gospel of Christ . . . For it has been given to you on behalf of Christ not
only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him” (Philippians 1:27,29).
St. Nicholas zealously contended for the truth, embracing it himself, teaching
it fervently, and also fighting against all false doctrine. Why was Nicholas
so stubborn by today’s standards? Because truth matters, for if truth didn’t
matter, there would be no reason even to bother to come to church. Without the
truth, we have nothing. Our Savior, Jesus, taught us, saying, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John
14:6). This Nicholas knew well.
The truth is Christ. When we alter the truth, we alter the Truth, Jesus
Christ. And an altered Jesus Christ does not save, for He then becomes a Jesus
in our own image and not who He really is. But the real Truth, Jesus Christ
Himself, saves us and restores our life.
Truth is the key to true freedom. Jesus also says, “If you continue in my
word, you are truly my disciples, then you will know the truth, and the truth
will make you free” (John 8:31-32). Unbelief and indifference do not save;
they only separate us from the truth; they separate us from Christ, who is the
Truth. That’s why we should all be passionate for the Christian faith. For
only Christ the Truth saves.
And what was the truth about the Truth Himself that Nicholas zealously
defended? It was that Jesus is both fully human and yet also fully divine.
It’s that Jesus is completely man AND completely God. That’s the only reason
Jesus could save us. If He were perfect--and yet only a man--He would have
saved only Himself. But being God and Man, He saved the whole world--and those
who grasp that reality by faith benefit from what Christ did and does for them.
That was what Nicholas defended.
Nicholas attended the First Church-wide Council in 325 AD, in Nicaea. That’s
where we get the Nicene Creed from, which we confess in our Divine Services.
It was at that Council where Nicholas, with the great theologian Athanasius,
defended Christianity against the majority view. The majority view was a new
teaching, which was so far afield that it wasn’t even Christian. A man named
Arius taught this new doctrine that Jesus isn’t fully God and fully Man.
Arius’ teachings were the latest Church fad back then. And most of the pastors
of that time followed Arius like they were clones. To them, they were simply
following the party line, giving the people what they want, and going with the
flow. Even back then it was easier to give the people what they wanted to hear
than what they needed for salvation and for strengthening of the faith. Thank
God brave bishops like Nicholas risked their very lives to contend for the
truth and preach it!
So there was Nicholas at the Council, hearing Arius spew forth his teachings
that damned people into hell. He could no longer endure Arius’ foul assertions
that our Savior and God, Jesus Christ, is a creature and not God. In his
overzealousness, he strode forward and punched Arius right in the mouth that
spoke such lies.
At first, this offended the fathers of the Council. They removed Nicholas from
the assembly of the bishops and stripped him of his pastoral position. In
doing this, the bishops were following the good order handed down to them in
the Church. It stated, “For a Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon who strikes
believers for sinning, or unbelievers for wrongdoing, with the idea of making
them afraid, we command that he is to be removed from office. For the Lord
nowhere has taught that. Just the opposite, when struck, He did not strike
back; when reviled, He did not revile; when suffering, He did not threaten”
(Canon 27 of the Holy Apostles).
All Christians--and especially this pastor and elders in our congregation--are
to be above reproach and are not to strike others. We are not to intimidate,
use brute force, or bully others. Instead, never giving up ground for the
truth, we show forth true power, which is meekness in the face of attack,
insult, and offense.
But shortly after Nicholas struck Arius, some bishops contended that Nicholas
had struck Arius in holy zeal, like Phineas defending the Lord’s glory and
dignity in Numbers Chapter 25.
So the Fathers of the Church reinstated Nicholas. As much as I honor and
revere the early Church fathers, they were rationalizing. They were wrong.
But this they got right: Through Nicholas, and even the wrong he did, God
worked good from ill. God prevented Christianity’s destruction, preventing it
from becoming a vile distortion like Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, or Islam.
For Nicholas, truth was not just an ideal, but something lived out and
enfleshed. Early on, he showed this when he gave away his inherited wealth to
the poor. After all, he wasn’t married. He could do that because He didn’t
have the vocations of husband or father.
We especially remember Nicholas for enabling three daughters of a poor man in
his parish to marry, because they had no money to pay for a dowry. So when the
time was right, Nicholas anonymously tossed a bag of gold into the poor man’s
house to provide him with what he needed, so a daughter could marry. But those
bags came through the window, not down the chimney. But of course, people
being people, they figured out who gave the gifts, and were moved by such
Christian generosity.
Today, more than 16 centuries later, we continue to follow in Nicholas’
charitable footsteps and see him as a great model of Christian charity. He
shows us, indeed, that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
If the life of St. Nicholas moves you, and you wish to help someone in this
congregation in need, come and see me. With permission from individuals and
families in need, I’ll share with you how you can help. But I will also
counsel you in a way where your giving will not create a culture of dependence,
but will help strengthen our unity and bond of faith by being the face of
Christ to another.
Conclusion
Matthew 6:3 says, “When you give to those in need, don’t let your right hand
know what your left hand is doing.” And a 1st-century Christian expression
puts it this way: “Let your gift sweat in your hands until you know to whom to
give it” (Didache 1:6). Jesus said when, not if--“when you give.”
Jesus simply assumes His followers will live their lives in such a generous
way, giving to those in need, especially those in the household of faith
(Galatians 6:10). And why not, for we love because He first loved us. He
loved us enough to take on human flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. And
that makes all the difference, even into eternity! Amen.
--
Rich Futrell, Pastor
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Kimberling City, MO
Where we are to receive and confess the faith of the Church (in and with the
Augsburg Confession)--the faith once delivered to the saints, the faith of
Christ Jesus, His Word of the Gospel, His free and full forgiveness of sins,
His flesh and blood given and poured out for us, and His gracious gift of life
for both body and soul.
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